Detroit Electric reboots for Shanghai auto show

The Detroit Electric name is being revived in the Motor City. The company says it will reveal its first electric sports car -- based on the Lotus Elise -- at the Shanghai Motor Show in April, and begin selling in limited markets by August. That's a lofty goal for a company that just hit our radar on Tuesday morning.

The original Detroit Electric operated in the city in the early 1900s, selling more than 1,000 cars per year in the 1910s. During the Great Depression, Detroit Electric floundered a bit, before closing its doors in the late 1930s.

The new company makes its headquarters at the Fisher Building in downtown Detroit, with Don Graunstadt as the North American CEO. The company also says it found a site for manufacturing, which will begin in August. According to Graunstadt, the company will use excess capacity of a current automaker's plant, though he declined to name which one. Graunstadt says the company plans to produce 888 examples of the new car, 400-500 of which will be sold here in the United States. The facility will be able to produce 2,500 cars per year. Detroit Electric aims to create more than 180 sales and manufacturing-related jobs over the next 12 months.

The sports car -- based on the Elise -- will weigh in near 3,000 pounds and cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $135,000. The battery supplier is Kokam. In the near future Detroit Electric says it will produce another low-volume sports car and two large volume models, all will be electric.

“Right now, there isn't enough market for the big boys to go after. We're carving out our own niche, Graundstadt said. “We don't think of ourselves as an electric car company, just a car company. As in, this is a fun car, and by the way it's also electric.”

Detroit Electric tapped Albert Lam, former CEO of the Lotus Engineering Group, to lead the company, which gives us hope that the new cars will be both light and fast. He was the one who pushed to make Detroit the company's home base.

“We are proud to become the fourth car manufacturer born out of Detroit, and the first to manufacture a pure electric sports car from Michigan,” said Graunstadt. “We are committed to doing our part for this great revival of Detroit through innovation, entrepreneurship and determination -- what we like to call 'Detroit 2.0.' ”

Editor's Note: No more teasers. We're done with manufacturer efforts to drag vehicle reveals out for weeks and months. It's a marketing gimmick, and it's jumped the shark -- we're taking our ball and going home. If you're dying to see a shadowy outline of a Lotus, you'll find it elsewhere. If you want to see the new Detroit Electric, we'll have it for you here when it's shown in Shanghai. In the meantime, here's an awesome original Detroit Electric courtesy of RM Auctions.

By Jake Lingeman